`Cavalier` zoysiagrass plant

ABSTRACT

An asexually reproduced variety of perennial zoysiagrass with a unique combination of characters including an absence of leaf blade hairs, high turf quality, resistance to fall armyworm and a distinct DNA fingerprint.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct asexually reproduced variety of perennial zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella (L.)) Merr.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinct perennial zoysiagrass cultivar identified as `Cavalier` zoysiagrass (hereinafter referred to as `Cavalier`), that was tested as DALZ8507. `Cavalier` was discovered in a cultivated area that received mowing and traffic on Seoul National University campus, Suwon, South Korea. It was identified as a unique turfgrass clone growing among a diverse population of common zoysiagrasses native to the area.

For purposes of registration under the "International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants" (generally known by its French acronym as the UPOV Convention) and noting Section 1612 of the Manual of Plant Examining Procedure, it is proposed that the new variety of zoysiagrass of the present invention be named `Cavalier` Zoysiagrass.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. 1 depicts an up-close view of the leaf blade and ligule of `Cavalier`.

FIG. 2 depicts entire leaf blades and ligule of `Cavalier`.

FIG. 3 is a DNA fingerprint of `Cavalier` in comparison with known varieties of zoysiagrass.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

`Cavalier` was characterized in greenhouse and field conditions. `Cavalier` is a unique variety of zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr that was discovered under cultivated conditions described above. `Cavalier` was asexually reproduced by cutting of stolons and rhizomes, rooting them in soil, and planting of the rooted material to provide planting stock for studying performance and for comparison of morphological characters after propagation. `Cavalier` has been propagated by sod, plugs, sprigs, and stolons. Seed reproduction with self-fertility is not common in the Zoysia sp. No seedling establishment from `Cavalier` has been noticed in either greenhouse or field studies.

`Cavalier` spreads primarily by stolons. It has an intermediate to rapid growth rate, and has intermediate to low water use requirements. `Cavalier` produces little thatch with an optimum mowing height of 3/8" to 2.5". `Cavalier` will generally cover in 10-12 months growing time when plug planted with 3"×4" plugs planted on 12" centers or by sprigs.

`Cavalier` has both rhizome and stolon growth. The stolons of `Cavalier` have a mean internode length of 16.7 mm between the fourth to the fifth node, 18.4 mm between the second and third nodes, with a mean stolon width and diameter from 1.35 to 1.14 mm (Tables 1,2). The stolons of `Cavalier` root adventitiously at the nodes. Color notations of plant tissues were based on the Munsell Color Charts for Plant Tissues, Munsell Color, Baltimore, Md., 1977. Light quality, photoperiod, and general growth of the plants affect color notations. The internode stolon color of `Cavalier` stolons exposed to full sun is 5R 3/6.

Leaf blades of `Cavalier` are rolled in the bud, and are flat and stiff. The leaf blade length of `Cavalier` ranges from 58.9 to 60.7 mm and from 1.33 to 1.79 mm in width (Table 3,4,5), shorter and narrower than `El Toro` and `Meyer`. There are not any hairs on the abaxial/adaxial leaf surfaces of `Cavalier`. Measured under greenhouse conditions in January 1996, the genetic, adaxial leaf color of `Cavalier` is 2.5 GY 5/2 with `El Toro` having a leaf color of 2.5 GY 5/2, and `Meyer` having a color of 2.5 G 3/4. The ligule of `Cavalier` is a row of silky hairs, approximately 2.1mm in length on the longest hairs.

The flat leaf length of `Cavalier` is a mean of 2.66 cm when measured in a greenhouse, Dallas, Tex., January 1996. `Cavalier` has 2.5 GY 7/4 anthers and white colored stigmas, undistinguished in shade of color. The inflorescence of `Cavalier` is a terminal spike-like raceme, with spikelets on short pedicels. `Cavalier` has a mean culm length of 4.5 cm, a floral region of 13.3 mm, with a mean of 16.3 florets per raceme.

The chromosome number of `Cavalier` is 40.

`Cavalier` rated number one in the National Turf Evaluation Program (NTEP) trials over 4-yrs as tested at 24 locations ranging from California-Georgia and north to Nebraska and Colorado. `Cavalier` will find its primary utility in home lawns, golf course fairways and tee boxes and in parks and recreational areas (Table 6).

This test was planted into a sited shaded with live oak trees in 1 Sep,. 1992. Under tree shade with competition from trees for available moisture and nutrients, `Cavalier` had slightly more cover than `Belair` and `Meyer` (Table 7).

When `Cavalier` was compared with 59 other zoysiagrasses for salinity tolerance, it ranked number 22 in performance that was not different in injury rating for `Emerald` and superior to `Belair`, and `Meyer` (Table 8). When compared to other commercial varieties for root growth, `Cavalier` produced shorter average root depth, less root weight than `Emerald`, and clipping weights similar to `Emerald` (Table 9).

Nine zoysiagrass cultivars were tested for resistance to the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in laboratory tests (Table 10). Eggs of the fall armyworm (FAW) were obtained from the colony maintained at the USDA Laboratory at Tifton, Ga. Larvae were developed from the eggs, and feed with zoysiagrass tissue of the cultivars, with days to pupation and adult emergence of the FAW used as indicators of FAW resistance. When neonate larvae of FAW were confined on the zoysiagrass cultivars, less than 5% of the larvae survived beyond 4 days of `Cavalier`, `Emerald`, or `Belair`. Two cultivars, `Palisades` and `8516` were among the most susceptible with 57% and 55% survival respectively to 17 days and longer. No larvae were able to survive to 17 days on the cultivar `Cavalier`, indicating the resistance of `Cavalier` to FAW was in the form of larval mortality and an extended development period (Table 10).

`Cavalier` is distinguished from other zoysiagrass by its fine texture, long-narrow leaf, with low rhizome, but high stolon production. It has good to excellent salt tolerance, and good shade tolerance. `Cavalier` is resistant to the fall armyworm and the tropical sod webworm. `Cavalier` is intermediate in its growth and recovery rate. `Cavalier` has good to excellent winter hardiness and will persist in regions north to Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois.

                  TABLE 1     ______________________________________     Internode length as measured between the second and third nodes,     internode diameter of the third internode, and node diameter of the     third node measured on zoysiagrass plants. Plants were grown in a     growth chamber with a 14-hour daylength, March 1995.                Internode   Internode  node                length      diameter   diameter     Genotype     mm--     mm--     mm--     ______________________________________     `Cavalier` 18.4a*      1.35abc    1.35abc     `El Toro`  39.8a       1.45abc    1.45abc     `Meyer`    24.1a       1.99a      1.99a     ______________________________________      *Analysis of variance by General Linear Models, with means followed by th      same letter not significantly different using Tukey's Studentized Range      (HSD), alpha = 0.05. Only selected means presented.

                  TABLE 2     ______________________________________     Zoysiagrass internode lengths and stolen width measurements from the     fourth to the fifth nodes taken February 1988 on greenhouse grown     plants.                    Internode    Stolon                    length       width     Genotype     mm--     mm--     ______________________________________     `Cavalier`     16.73bc*     1.14efg     `Emerald`       6.21e       1.02ghi     `Meyer`        16.47bc      1.53b     ______________________________________      *Analysis of variance by General Linear Models, with means followed by th      same letter not significantly different using Tukey's Studentized Range      (HSD), alpha = 0.05. Only selected means presented.

                  TABLE 3     ______________________________________     Zoysiagrass leaf measurements taken February 1988 on the fourth     youngest leaf from greenhouse grown plants.                   Blade width   Blade length     Genotype     mm--     mm--     ______________________________________     `Cavalier`     1.79ij*      58.87e     `Emerald`      2.01fgh      30.56ff     `Meyer`       33.3b         82.33d     ______________________________________      *Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different using      the WallerDuncan k ratio test (k ratio = 100). Only selected means      presented.

                  TABLE 4     ______________________________________     Leaf blade width and length measured on the third youngest leaf of     zoysiagrasses. Plants were growing in a growth chamber with a     14-hour daylength, March 1995.                   Blade width   Blade length     Genotype     mm--     mm--     ______________________________________     `Cavalier`    1.33d*        60.7cd     `El Toro`     3.26abc       68.3bcd     `Meyer`       2.59c         74.3bc     ______________________________________      *Analysis of variance by General Linear Models, with means followed by th      same letter not significantly different using Tukey's Studentized Range      (HSD), alpha = 0.05. Only selected means presented.

                  TABLE 5     ______________________________________     Zoysiagrass leaf sheath length measurements taken February 1988 on     the fourth youngest leaf from greenhouse grown plants.                         Sheath length     Genotype     mm--     ______________________________________     `Cavalier`          28.90ef*     `Emerald`           16.31ij     `Meyer`             30.68ed     ______________________________________      *Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different using      the WallerDuncan k ratio test (k ratio = 100). Only selected means      presented.

                  TABLE 6     ______________________________________     Mean turfgrass quality ranges of vegetative zoysiagrass cultivars grown     in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program at 23 locations in the US     for 1992, 1993, and 1994.                                            Overall     Variety      1992    1993   1994  1995 4-Yr Avg.     ______________________________________     `Cavalier` (DALZ8507)                  5.95    6.23   5.89  5.99 5.93     `Marquis` (TC 2033)                  5.85    6.10   6.11  5.96 5.91     `Sunburst`   5.83    5.91   5.81  5.87 5.85     `TC 5018`    5.80    5.81   5.92  5.70 5.81     `Emerald`    5.74    6.21   6.05  5.73 5.79     `Omni` (CD 2013)                  5.56    6.13   6.06  5.96 5.73     `QT 2004`    5.63    6.01   5.86  5.57 5.63     `DALZ 8508`  5.59    6.06   5.74  5.60 5.60     `Palisades` (DALZ8514)                  5.82    5.82   5.46  5.44 5.59     `Royal` (DALZ9006)                  5.65    6.05   5.59  5.54 5.59     `Crowne` (DALZ8512)                  5.80    5.76   5.50  5.45 5.55     `El Toro`    5.78    5.63   5.34  5.41 5.50     `CD 259-13`  5.30    5.53   5.74  5.49 5.40     `Meyer`      5.26    5.70   5.76  5.47 5.39     `QT 2047`    5.37    5.39   5.26  5.16 5.30     `Belair`     4.99    5.58   5.61  5.02 5.16     `DALZ 8516`  4.72    5.42   4.96  5.05 4.86     `Diamond` (DALZ8502)                  4.40    5.03   4.58  4.36 4.41     `DALZ 8501`  4.88    4.31   3.99  4.05 4.27     `DALZ 8701`  4.23    4.10   3.71  3.58 3.85     LSD VALUE    0.22    0.20   0.20  0.20 0.17     ______________________________________      To determine statistical differences among entries, subtract one entry's      mean from another entry's mean. Statistical difference occurs when this      value is larger than the corresponding LSD value (LSD 0.05).      In National Zoysiagrass Test  1991. Final Report 1992-95, NTEP No. 9615;      (Table 4); United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research      Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705.

                  TABLE 7     ______________________________________     Mean turf cover, as percentage of plot during turf, during winter     1993-1994 for the 1991 NTEP zoysia trial planted under 80% shade in     Dallas, TX.            Percentage Turf Cover     Variety  10 Nov 93    21 Dec 93                                    22 March 94     ______________________________________     `Belair` 40.0         43.3     21.7     `Cavalier`              48.3         55.0     26.7     `Emerald`              41.7         51.7     26.7     `El Toro`              35.0         31.7     21.7     `Meyer`  33.3         38.3     23.3     MSD      ns           14.5     10.2     ______________________________________      MSD is the minimum significant difference between entry means for      comparison within column, and was based on the Duncan Waller kratio test      (kratio = 100). Only selected means presented.      In Morton, S. J., M. C. Engelke, and K. G. Porter. 1994. Performance of      three warmseason turfgrass genera cultured in shade III. Zoysia spp. In      Texas Turfgrass Research Report  1994. PR. 5242. p 27-29.

                  TABLE 8*     ______________________________________     Average percent shoot salt injury (average of 20 rating dates) on     zoysiagrass entries in the 1991 NTEP.sup.† Trials.     Entry         Source    Species.sup.‡                                       % Injury     ______________________________________     `Diamond`     NTEP 20   matrella  33ab.sup.     `El Toro`     NTEP 13   japonica  38a-e     `Emerald`     NTEP 10   jap x tenu                                       42a-h     `Cavalier`    NTEP 17   matrella  42a-h     `Belair`      NTEP 11   japonica  50f-k     `Meyer`       NTEP 09   japonica  58lmn     `Korean Common`                   NTEP 07*  japonica  76pq     ______________________________________      *Selected data set; complete data set includes 59 varieties and cultivars      .sup.† NTEP = National Turfgrass Evaluation Program.      .sup.‡ Species identity.      .sup..English Pound. Means followed by the same letter are not      significantly different, based on the WallerDuncan kratio ttest (kratio =      100)      In Marcum, K. B., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton and C. Dayton. 1994.      Salinity tolerances of selected bermudagrass and zoysiagrass genotypes. T      Turfgrass Res.  1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5140: 105-107.

                  TABLE 9     ______________________________________     Average mean root depth of zoysiagrasses grown in flexible tubes in     greenhouse studies, Dallas, TX.              Average Mean  Total Root                                     Clipping              Root Depth    Weight   Weight     Variety     mm--     mg--     mg--     ______________________________________     `Belair` 296           330      286     `Cavalier`              255           278      243     `El Toro`              356           473      391     `Emerald`              330           461      241     `Meyer`  333           411      466     MSD       79           161      267     ______________________________________      *MSD = minimum significant difference for comparison of means within      columns based on the WallerDuncan kratio test where k = 100. Only selecte      means presented.      In Marcum, K. B., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton, and R. H. White. 1995.      Rooting charcteristics and associated drought resistance of zoysiagrasses      Agron. J. 87: 534-538.

                  TABLE 10     ______________________________________     Resistance in zoysiagrass to 4-day old larvae of the fall armyworm;     survival, weight, and development time.     Cultivars             7 day larva   Pupa        Adult     and     alive  wt      alive                                 wt          alive     Genotypes             %.sup.1                    mg.sup.2                            %.sup.3                                 mg.sup.4                                       days.sup.5                                             %.sup.6                                                  days.sup.7     ______________________________________     `Cavalier`              0     --       0   --    --    0    --     `DALZ8501`             14.8   34.9a.sup.8                            11.1 151.2ab                                       30.0a 11.1 40.0a     `K.Common`             14.8   41.2ab  11.1 136.1ab                                       30.3a 11.1 40.7a     `Belair`             25.9   75.5b   25.9 149.8ab                                       27.7ab                                             25.9 37.6abc     `El Toro`             33.3   58.7ab  26.7 171.1a                                       29.0a 26.7 39.0a     `Emerald`             37.0   52.1ab  37.0 137.5ab                                       30.5a 37.0 40.5a     `Meyer` 60.0   55.4ab  53.1 148.3ab                                       28.9a 53.3 38.8ab     `Palisades`             66.7   131.6c  66.7 122.7b                                       25.2b 66.7 35.3bc     `DALZ8516`             81.5   143.9c  74.1 156.7ab                                       25.1b 74.1 34.7c     ______________________________________      .sup.1 Number of surviving 17day-old-larvae.      .sup.2 Mean larval weight taken after 17 days of feeding.      .sup.3 Number surviving to pupation.      .sup.4 Mean weight of pupa within 2 days of pupation.      .sup.5 Mean number of days to pupation.      .sup.6 Mean survival to adult.      .sup.7 Mean number of days from egg hatch to adult emergence.      .sup.8 Means in a column followed by the same letter are not significantl      different by WallerDuncan kratio t test (k = 100) (P = 0.05)      In Reinert, J. A., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton, P. S. Graff, and B. R.      Wiseman. 1994. Resistance in zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp) to the fall army      worm (Spodoptera frugiperda). TX turfgrass Research1992. Consolidated      Prog. Rep. PR 5248: 39-4

EXAMPLE 1 DNA Fingerprint Analysis

See Caetano-Annolles, B. J. Bassam and Peter M. Gresshoff, 1991, DNA Amplification fingerprinting using very short arbitrary oligonucleotide primers. Biotechnology. Vol. 9. Pp. 553-557.

The zoysiagrass amplification profiles were obtained using primer of sequence GCCCGCCC, and are compared to the standard `Meyer` (FIG. 2). Complex banding patterns and amplification fragment length polymorphisms were obtained in all cases. Results indicate bands fall into two categories, those that are common to the species, and those that in combination are characteristic of the cultivar (some identified by dots).

Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis performed utilizes the method set forth in Steel and Torrie, 1960, Principles and Procedures of Statistics. Pages 1-481. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York. 

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.) plant as described and illustrated herein, having the principle distinguishing characteristics of white stigmas, and absence of leaf blade hairs, high turf quality, resistance to fall armyworm and a distinct DNA fingerprint. 